Oil giant ExxonMobil is building its first chemical recycling plant in Texas, with more to follow around the world.
The facility in Baytown, will be one of the largest advanced recycling operations in the United States, and is set to be complete by the end of 2022.
It will process 30,000 tonnes per year, and will be part of a network of facilities run by ExxonMobil totalling 500,000 tonnes that is planned to be operational in the next five years.
Along with a plant that is being worked on with Plastic Energy in France, ExxonMobil is assessing sites in the Netherlands, US Gulf Coast, Canada and Singapore.
ExxonMobil currently has a temporary facility producing commercial volumes of circular polymers at Baytown, and these will be available before the end of this year.
So far, this trial facility has recycled more than 1,000 tonnes of waste plastic.
ExxonMobil Chemical Company president Karen McKee said: “We’ve proven our proprietary advanced recycling technology in Baytown, and we’re scaling up operations to supply certified circular polymers by year-end.
“Availability of reliable advanced recycling capacity will play an important role in helping address plastic waste in the environment, and we are evaluating wide-scale deployment in other locations around the world.”
